Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail in descending order the top 50 recipients of Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme subsidy under the new scheme and the equivalent figures for the last year of the old scheme.

Ross Finnie: As the member may not appreciate, the producers receiving subsidy payments cannot be named due to EC restrictions on the release of data and further restrictions under the Data Protection Act 1998. Nevertheless, I have set out in the following table the amounts involved.

  No   Less-Favoured Areas Support Scheme 2001   Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances 2000   No   Less-Favoured Areas Support Scheme 2001   Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances 2000 1£ 97,780.80£ 107,855.83   26£ 52,418.46£ 51,356.88 2£ 97,070.25£ 86,504.20   27£ 52,104.03£ 49,685.03 3£ 77,853.78£ 85,837.71   28£ 51,392.50£ 48,410.83 4£ 77,253.94£ 80,368.11   29£ 50,932.14£ 48,284.82 5£ 75,658.10£ 77,717.84   30£ 49,563.60£ 47,996.36 6£ 72,331.30£ 75,222.48   31£ 49,516.60£ 47,185.12 7£ 67,700.23£ 70,169.38   32£ 49,504.93£ 46,949.90 8£ 65,640.30£ 68,754.00   33£ 48,972.74£ 46,721.66 9£ 63,273.03£ 67,788.29   34£ 48,675.99£ 46,258.90 10£ 63,152.44£ 67,457.20   35£ 48,661.34£ 46,235.70 11£ 61,878.60£ 66,411.92   36£ 48,424.41£ 45,709.90 12£ 60,711.48£ 66,023.44   37£ 47,280.17£ 45,144.53 13£ 59,770.73£ 64,189.96   38£ 47,033.93£ 45,123.60 14£ 59,421.10£ 62,340.08   39£ 46,713.25£ 44,166.54 15£ 57,791.77£ 62,094.69   40£ 46,445.93£ 43,934.11 16£ 57,770.96£ 61,606.97   41£ 46,221.19£ 43,598.51 17£ 56,888.93£ 61,276.74   42£ 45,871.30£ 43,568.22 18£ 56,426.91£ 59,685.41   43£ 45,572.58£ 42,874.40 19£ 56,106.07£ 58,429.18   44£ 45,399.96£ 42,051.37 20£ 55,915.05£ 57,893.37   45£ 45,097.91£ 42,009.95 21£ 55,885.22£ 55,018.44   46£ 44,716.53£ 41,460.71 22£ 55,446.27£ 55,005.48   47£ 44,578.95£ 41,391.85 23£ 55,149.07£ 54,037.41   48£ 43,897.39£ 40,964.81 24£ 54,927.54£ 53,804.90   49£ 43,456.34£ 40,660.90 25£ 52,586.26£ 53,025.22   50£ 43,319.76£ 40,471.78 Totals   =£ 2,800,162.06£ 2,800,734.63

  I would remind the member, however, that the two schemes operate on different principles and therefore the top 50 payees will not be the same under the two schemes.

Agriculture

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average amount of agriculture subsidy paid to businesses under the Integrated Administration and Control System has been for each of the last three years.

Ross Finnie: A following table shows the average amount of subsidy paid to businesses, under the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS), for the last two years.

  The schemes covered by IACS are Beef Special Premium Scheme including Extensification payments, Suckler Cow Premium Scheme, including Extensification payments, Sheep Annual Premium Scheme, Arable Aid Payments Scheme and in 1999 Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance, which was replaced in 2000 by the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme. Payments for schemes covered by IACS 2001 have not yet been completed and hence an average subsidy payment for 2001 is not yet available.

Agriculture

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18577 by Ross Finnie on 11 October 2001, whether it will name each farm business on the list and give the number of jobs sustained by each business.

Ross Finnie: For data protection reasons - both under the Data Protection Act 1998 and also EU legislation - the names of individual claimants cannot be released. Information on the number of jobs su

  


IACS Scheme Year 
  

Average Amount of Subsidy 
  



1999 
  

£19,963.52 
  



2000 
  

£20,313.06 
  



  stained by each business is set out in the following table:

  

 

1998 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  



1 
  

11 
  

12 
  

12 
  



2 
  

6 
  

26 
  

6 
  



3 
  

10 
  

15 
  

15 
  



4 
  

17 
  

7 
  

1 
  



5 
  

15 
  

23 
  

17 
  



6 
  

15 
  

16 
  

15 
  



7 
  

4 
  

17 
  

9 
  



8 
  

10 
  

3 
  

15 
  



9 
  

13 
  

15 
  

26 
  



10 
  

21 
  

10 
  

15 
  



11 
  

2 
  

18 
  

2 
  



12 
  

23 
  

15 
  

13 
  



13 
  

1 
  

9 
  

16 
  



14 
  

14 
  

2 
  

6 
  



15 
  

9 
  

26 
  

30 
  



16 
  

25 
  

9 
  

18 
  



17 
  

12 
  

18 
  

23 
  



18 
  

10 
  

11 
  

16 
  



19 
  

15 
  

14 
  

8 
  



20 
  

17 
  

30 
  

6 
  



21 
  

16 
  

15 
  

17 
  



22 
  

3 
  

7 
  

13 
  



23 
  

10 
  

105 
  

6 
  



24 
  

10 
  

7 
  

13 
  



25 
  

25 
  

14 
  

12 
  



26 
  

8 
  

16 
  

38 
  



27 
  

8 
  

12 
  

9 
  



28 
  

10 
  

14 
  

11 
  



29 
  

8 
  

10 
  

10 
  



30 
  

6 
  

27 
  

16 
  



31 
  

7 
  

10 
  

13 
  



32 
  

13 
  

17 
  

20 
  



33 
  

21 
  

25 
  

9 
  



34 
  

16 
  

22 
  

11 
  



35 
  

6 
  

12 
  

6 
  



36 
  

47 
  

25 
  

20 
  



37 
  

7 
  

6 
  

12 
  



38 
  

11 
  

20 
  

112 
  



39 
  

14 
  

10 
  

12 
  



40 
  

13 
  

44 
  

29 
  



41 
  

22 
  

7 
  

7 
  



42 
  

6 
  

9 
  

8 
  



43 
  

13 
  

12 
  

10 
  



44 
  

12 
  

11 
  

19 
  



45 
  

3 
  

7 
  

24 
  



46 
  

23 
  

8 
  

7 
  



47 
  

1 
  

22 
  

17 
  



48 
  

6 
  

10 
  

13 
  



49 
  

13 
  

8 
  

7 
  



50 
  

15 
  

6 
  

9 
  



Total 
  

623 
  

815 
  

779 
  



  The top 50 farms in receipt of payment varies from one scheme year to the next and therefore the top 50 farms will not be the same for each of the three years.

  The above figures include working occupiers and spouses, full and part-time employees (hired, family and partners) and casual and seasonal workers. The figures are taken from the relevant June census in each of the three years.

Ambulance Service

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all the ambulance bases in the Clydesdale constituency, specifying which operate full-time and which part-time.

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the ambulance bases in Clydesdale have only one ambulance and what arrangements for cover are made at these bases when this ambulance has been called out.

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent the ambulance service in rural areas of Clydesdale has been able to meet the target waiting time in rural areas of 21 minutes.

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any areas of the Clydesdale constituency which it is not possible, in normal circumstances, for an ambulance to reach from its base within 21 minutes.

Susan Deacon: These are operational matters for the Scottish Ambulance Service. I understand that you have recently met the general manager of the service’s West Central Division to discuss ambulance service provision in Lanarkshire.

Bathing Waters

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken following the publication of the study by the Scottish Agricultural College Impact of Agricultural Practices and Catchment Characteristics on Ayrshire Bathing Waters.

Rhona Brankin: In July this year, the Scottish Executive issued advice for farmers on the prevention of pollution at bathing waters, based on the conclusions of the study, to farmers in Ayrshire and on Bute. The advice is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 14970).

  In the debate on the Agriculture Strategy for Scotland on 3 October, my colleague Ross Finnie announced the creation by the Scottish Executive, together with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, WWF Scotland, the Scottish Agricultural College and the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland, of an advice co-ordination post at the college. One of the postholder’s main tasks will be to collate and publicise advice on best practice in bathing water catchments, based on the research work by the college.

  Further work, building on the research, is currently under discussion with stakeholders.

Digital Inclusion

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18491 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 24 September 2001, what specific steps it is taking to promote digital inclusion in rural areas.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In September we published the Digital Inclusion strategy Connecting Scotland’s people – this included initiatives which will promote digital inclusion in rural areas.

  The public access points initiative will expend some £5 million to create more than 1,000 additional public internet access points, and investment will be particularly focussed on areas of Scotland where access to the web is currently poor. The initiative will provide PCs with internet access in places where people already go - for example doctors’ surgeries, shops and hairdressers. This will significantly improve public access to the web across much of rural Scotland. We expect to provide the first PCs early next year.

  In addition, the Digital Communities initiative will expend some £3.5 million in tackling digital inclusion by creating pilot "digital communities" to connect homes to the internet in two disadvantaged areas of Scotland. The objective is to demonstrate how the internet can increase peoples' opportunities and improve quality of life, but at the same time to inform our further efforts to close the digital divide. The two communities chosen will be announced in March 2002, one of which will be a rural community.

  As noted in the strategy, we are also examining the feasibility of a range of other initiatives to promote digital inclusion.

Drug Misuse

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all people who are prescribed methadone are given the option of detoxification and rehabilitation at regular intervals during the course of their treatment

Iain Gray: The nature and duration of treatment are determined on the basis of a patient’s particular clinical needs and personal circumstances. Current clinical guidelines recognise that referrals to hospital, day care or residential care may be required in certain circumstances.

Early Years

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications would be for minimum teaching qualifications in pre-school education and the early years of primary school should the Schools (Scotland) Code 1956 be repealed, as presently proposed.

Nicol Stephen: The repeal of the pre-school provisions of the Schools (Scotland) Code 1956 – proposed and consulted upon in 2000 – will not of itself carry any implications for minimum teaching qualifications in pre-school education. The "special qualification" referred to in paragraph 5(2) of the Code is no longer offered in this form; and all courses leading to the B.Ed and PCGE qualifications now cover pre-school education. We will be issuing guidance to local authorities and others on the future deployment of teachers in early years services.

  We hope shortly to make an announcement more generally on the future of the Schools (Scotland) Code.

Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the presentation rate was for candidates sitting Higher examinations in (a) further education colleges and (b) the secondary school sector, in each of the last three years.

Mr Jack McConnell: The number of Higher entries for school and further education/other centres are set out in the table.

  


Year 
  

Total Number of Higher Entries 
  

Secondary School Higher Entries 
  

Further Education and External Entries 
  



1997-98 
  

163,817 
  

157,332 
  

6,485 
  



1998-99 
  

160,919 
  

154,930 
  

5,989 
  



1999-2000 
  

163,517 
  

157,259 
  

6,258 
  



  Higher refers to old SCE Highers and new National Qualifications at Higher level.

Education

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, pupils aged 16 and over left school within three months of the beginning of the school year over the last five years, and how many, and what percentage, left schools which had adopted Higher Still within three months of the beginning of the school year since August 1999.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Executive does not hold figures on the number of pupils who leave school within three months of the beginning of the school year. Figures on the number who leave at the end of the first term are available and are given in the table.

  

 

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  



Number of first term leavers 
  

10,262 
  

10,744 
  

9,514 
  

10,350 
  

11,318 
  



September, S4, S5, S6 total 
  

136,378 
  

133,307 
  

130,383 
  

131,463 
  

133,731 
  



Percentage that left 
  

7.5% 
  

8.1% 
  

7.3% 
  

7.9% 
  

8.5% 
  



  All senior secondary schools were required to introduce National Qualifications from August 1999, although the extent to which the new courses were taught varied.

Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the statutory guidance for local authorities on educating children at home is not yet available and when it anticipates that the guidance will be published.

Mr Jack McConnell: Statutory guidance on the circumstances in which parents may choose to educate their children at home is not yet available, because the issues that it requires to address are complex and have needed careful and detailed consideration. Draft guidance will, however, be issued to local authorities and other interest groups for consultation shortly.

Education

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards the publication of the Discipline Task Force’s Action Plan and whether any financial resources will be allocated to ensure that its recommendations are implemented.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Executive is working with members of the Discipline Task Group and with local government organisations to complete an action plan, to be published shortly.

  Funding of implementation falls to the Executive and to local authorities, according to their responsibilities. An announcement about resources will be made when the action plan is launched.

Education

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards implementing the recommendations made by the Discipline Task Force in its report Better Behaviour – Better Learning .

Mr Jack McConnell: As indicated at the publication of the Discipline Task Group report in June, an action plan is being prepared in collaboration with Discipline Task Group members and local government organisations. This should be published shortly and will set out the timescale for implementation of the recommendations.

Education

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18284 by Allan Wilson on 15 October 2001, how many reports it has received from education authorities and independent schools of inspections made on them by the Health and Safety Executive.

Mr Jack McConnell: There is no requirement for education authorities or independent schools to submit such reports to the Scottish Executive, and we have no record of having received any.

Energy Efficiency

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how is it promoting the Powershift programme in rural areas.

Rhona Brankin: The Energy Saving Trust is responsible for publicising the Powershift programme throughout the UK, and does so in a number of ways. We have recently asked the trust to undertake increased promotion of the Powershift programme across Scotland, including in rural areas.

Enterprise

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the fact that a company is indigenous to Scotland is taken into account by economic development and enterprise agencies when assessing applications for assistance or qualification for grant or loan schemes.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Applications for assistance from foreign and indigenous firms are assessed against the same scheme criteria.

Enterprise

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many shops there have been in Scotland in each of the last three years showing the percentage change year on year.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not held centrally.

Enterprise

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken by it, local authorities and the enterprise agencies to support and advise small businesses, such as village shops and post offices.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The provision of advice and support for small, medium and large businesses in Scotland is a matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The Scottish Executive continues to work closely with both these organisations to ensure easy access by new and existing small businesses, in all sectors, to the advice and support they need to develop and grow. Small businesses should contact the Small Business Gateway, in the Scottish Enterprise area or the Local Enterprise Company in the Highlands and Islands area, where business advisers can advise on all relevant sources of advice and support available, including from local authorities and the Executive.

Ferry Services

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations have been held with the residents of Colonsay on the tendering of ferry services to the island and what guidelines are in place to ensure that adequate consultation takes place before any decision is taken on the future provision of such services.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what minimum level of service provision and fare guarantees will exist for the residents of Colonsay after the current tendering process on ferry services to the island is concluded and what representations have been sought from the residents there to ascertain whether the proposals on service provision and fare guarantees which arise from the tendering process are acceptable to them.

Lewis Macdonald: In April last year we published Delivering Lifeline Ferry Services and used this as the basis for a wide consultation with users, including residents of Colonsay and others, on options for bringing Caledonian MacBrayne’s ferry services into line with EC rules on maritime state aids. The Minister for Transport and Planning announced in January 2001 a package of provisional proposals to bring the Clyde and Western Isles ferry services into compliance with EC rules. As part of the proposals the minister gave a commitment to protecting levels of service and fares.

  Burness Corlett & Partners, Maritime Consultants, have been appointed to draft the Service Specification for the tender exercise. Over the summer the consultants met and discussed the Service Specification with key interests, including the relevant local authorities and the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority; Trade Union representatives; the Scottish Parliament Transport and Environment Committee Reporters; CalMac Users Consultative Committee; the three Shipping Services Advisory Committees (which represent users), and the Highlands and Islands Strategic Transport Partnership.

  The draft Service Specification will cover all aspects of the service, including minimum levels of service and fares. We will be consulting widely on the service specification in due course and I would urge all those with an interest, including residents of Colonsay, to participate.

Ferry Services

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports putting island ferry services out to tender every five years or whether it will seek an exemption from relevant EC regulations.

Lewis Macdonald: We are required to bring Caledonian MacBrayne’s ferry services into compliance with EC rules on state aids and maritime cabotage. The Minister for Transport and Planning announced, in January, the Executive’s proposals to bring the services into compliance and we have since been negotiating with the European Commission to agree a way forward. The five-year contract period is set out in the EC rules for Public Service Obligations.

Further Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many further education colleges offer qualifications which are also available in the secondary school sector.

Ms Wendy Alexander: All bar two of Scotland’s 46 further education colleges offer qualifications which are also available in the secondary school sector.

Further Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school students enrolled at a further education college in each of the last three years in order to sit Higher examinations.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not held centrally.

Further Education

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much, and from what source, including grants from the European Union, Her Majesty's Government, the National Lottery, each further education college received in public funding in each of the past three years and will receive in the current year; what the total annual income from all sources was for each college, and how many students attended each college.

Ms Wendy Alexander: On behalf of the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Further Education Funding Council allocates public funds to Scotland’s further education colleges. Colleges may receive income from a variety of other sources including fees, commercial activity and the European Union. Details of total college income are not held centrally, although are published in the Annual Report and Accounts of each college.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its definition is of the term "Healthcare Associated Infection".

Susan Deacon: The term "Healthcare Associated Infection" is generally used to refer to infections which may affect patients, staff and others in the full range of health care settings, not only in hospitals. Infections which may be associated with health care settings include urinary tract infection, surgical site infection, pneumonia, bloodstream and other infections. For the particular purpose of the surveillance of infections acquired in health care settings, NHSScotland will use the definition set out in the report of the Advisory Group on Infection’s sub group on Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance. A copy of this report can be found at http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd.

Judicial Appointments

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18631 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 October 2001, where the public advertisements for the chairman and lay membership of the Judicial Appointments Board are being placed and whether any equality indicators are being used to ensure that the composition of the board reflects gender and ethnic diversity.

Iain Gray: The advertisement for the chair and lay members of the Judicial Appointments Board was placed in The Scotsman , The Herald  and on the Scottish Executive website.

  The Scottish Executive is committed to ensuring that the membership of public bodies reflects all of Scottish society. The Executive has the following targets for appointing more people from under represented sections of society to public office:

  - to increase by 2002 the proportion of women appointees from the 1998 level of 47% to 50%

  - to increase by 2002 the proportion of bodies chaired by women from the 1998 level of 22% to 35%

  - to increase by 2002 the proportion of appointments held by people from an ethnic minority background from the 1998 level of 0.4% to 1.3%.

  The current targets were inherited from the Scottish Office ministers.

Junior Doctors

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how successful it has been in reducing junior doctors’ hours and improving their working conditions.

Susan Deacon: I established the New Deal Implementation Support Group (ISG) in September 1999 as a partnership arrangement with the Scottish Junior Doctors Committee of the British Medical Association (BMA) to work with NHSScotland Trusts in supporting their efforts to reduce hours of work for training grade staff. This work has been underpinned by the New Contract for Doctors in Training which introduced a contractual requirement for all Pre Registration House Officer (PRHO) posts to comply with the New Deal by 1 August 2001 and for Senior House Officer (SHO) and Specialist Register (SpR) posts by 1 August 2003.

  I recently announced that 97% of PRHO posts have now been declared by the ISG as New Deal compliant, which is a significant improvement on the 13% declared by the ISG in their March 2001 report. In particular, all PRHO grades training in the Glasgow area have been declared by junior doctors, trusts and the ISG as fully compliant with New Deal standards on hours of work and rest. The current position on compliance for SHO and SpR grades has yet to be confirmed. Completed returns from trusts are awaited, but trusts are aware of the August 2003 compliance deadline. It is anticipated returns will identify that progress has been made with these grades of doctors in training.

  In addition to the recruitment of an extra 100 junior doctors announced in June 2000, I also announced in April this year a commitment to employ 375 more junior doctors by 2003. This represents an increase of approximately 10% and I expect these additional resources to be used to best effect in targeting areas of hour's non-compliance.

  In relation to other issues such as accommodation, catering and security, UK national minimum standards have been agreed recently between the four UK Health Departments and the BMA. The ISG is currently in the process of undertaking visits to trusts to assess where variations from standards exist and to advise on necessary improvements. On completion of this assessment process, trusts will be invited to submit plans detailing how they are to address any shortfalls against standards and to submit on-going progress reports as appropriate to the Health Department on a six-monthly basis.

Local Government

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what power local authorities have to make contributions to Nuclear Free Local Authorities and what information it has on the level of any such contributions made in each of the last three years.

Peter Peacock: It is for local authorities to satisfy themselves, and their auditors, that any expenditure they incur is within their powers. The Scottish Executive holds no information on any contributions made by local authorities to Nuclear Free Local Authorities in the last three years.

Museums

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to provide funding for Glasgow’s nationally important museum collections.

Allan Wilson: The National Cultural Strategy recognises the particular position of Glasgow and committed the Executive to work with Glasgow City Council to examine the circumstances of the museums and galleries in the city. We have already had preliminary discussions but it is now for the council to set out its own plans for the future of its museums and galleries as the basis of further discussions with the Executive.

Museums

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to assist and develop local museums.

Allan Wilson: We have honoured our commitment in the National Cultural Strategy to provide resources of £250,000 for a national audit of all museum collections, buildings and services to establish their relative importance, the first of its kind in Europe. The final results of the audit are due in April 2002. However, an interim report was published on 25 October and included detailed findings relating to industrial museums and Glasgow City museums.

  In the first instance, the results of the audit will inform the distribution of our new Restructuring Fund of £3 million over three years, which is aimed at helping to put the local museum sector on a sounder financial footing.

  We are also progressively increasing our annual grant-in-aid to the Scottish Museums Council, the channel for the Executive’s support to the non-national museum sector, from £940,000 in 2000-01 to £1,440,000 in 2003-04. The increase of £850,000 over three years (£100,000/£250,000/£500,000) is intended specifically for the development of Information and Communications Technology and education programmes in the non-national sector.

NHS Waiting Times

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting times are for podiatry and chiropody services for (a) high-risk patients and (b) non high-risk patients, broken down by health board.

Susan Deacon: The treatment of patients by a podiatrist or chiropodist is generally undertaken in a primary care setting by the Community Chiropody Service (CCS), or at sessions at NHSScotland hospitals, clinics or other health service facilities staffed by Professions Allied to Medicine (PAM). Information on waiting times for services provided by the CCS or by PAM is not collected centrally.

Non-Domestic Rates

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, businesses will pay a business rates surcharge in order to fund the small business rates relief scheme, broken down by local authority area.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, businesses will benefit from a reduction in their business rates following the implementation of the small business rates relief scheme, broken down by local authority area.

Angus MacKay: Based on the proposals put forward in May in the Scottish Executive Consultation Paper Rate Relief for Small Businesses , businesses occupying a property with a rateable value of £10,000 or less, subject to certain criteria, would benefit from a general rate relief scheme. The table shows the number of all non-domestic properties above and below the £10,000 rateable value threshold by local authority area. This provides an indication of the numbers and percentage of businesses likely to benefit from the scheme.

  Rateable Value of Business Properties by Local Authority Area.

  

 

Number of business properties 
  

Number of businesses by rateable value (RV) 
  



Local authority area 
  

All RV’s 
  

< £10,000 
  

% of total for area 
  

> £10,000 
  

% of total for area 
  



Aberdeen 
  

8,318 
  

4,379 
  

53% 
  

3,939 
  

47% 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

8,742 
  

7,042 
  

81% 
  

1,700 
  

19% 
  



Angus 
  

4,438 
  

3,490 
  

79% 
  

948 
  

21% 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

6,666 
  

5,659 
  

85% 
  

1,007 
  

15% 
  



Clackmannan 
  

1,363 
  

984 
  

72% 
  

379 
  

28% 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

7,965 
  

6,692 
  

84% 
  

1,273 
  

16% 
  



Dundee 
  

5,356 
  

3,431 
  

64% 
  

1,925 
  

36% 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

3,814 
  

2,770 
  

73% 
  

1,044 
  

27% 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

2,168 
  

1,339 
  

62% 
  

829 
  

38% 
  



East Lothian 
  

2,912 
  

2,308 
  

79% 
  

604 
  

21% 
  



East Renfrew 
  

1,616 
  

1,004 
  

62% 
  

612 
  

38% 
  



Edinburgh 
  

17,807 
  

10,855 
  

61% 
  

6,952 
  

39% 
  



Falkirk 
  

4,483 
  

2,991 
  

67% 
  

1,492 
  

33% 
  



Fife 
  

11,553 
  

7,986 
  

69% 
  

3,567 
  

31% 
  



Glasgow 
  

25,435 
  

15,685 
  

62% 
  

9,750 
  

38% 
  



Highland 
  

14,394 
  

11,861 
  

82% 
  

2,533 
  

18% 
  



Inverclyde 
  

2,290 
  

1,497 
  

65% 
  

793 
  

35% 
  



Midlothian 
  

2,312 
  

1,647 
  

71% 
  

665 
  

29% 
  



Moray 
  

4,046 
  

3,313 
  

82% 
  

733 
  

18% 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

4,701 
  

3,442 
  

73% 
  

1,259 
  

27% 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

8,566 
  

5,305 
  

62% 
  

3,261 
  

38% 
  



Orkney 
  

1,699 
  

1,496 
  

88% 
  

203 
  

12% 
  



Perth 
  

6,554 
  

4,866 
  

74% 
  

1,688 
  

26% 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

5,331 
  

3,256 
  

61% 
  

2,075 
  

39% 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

6,109 
  

5,065 
  

83% 
  

1,044 
  

17% 
  



Shetland 
  

1,751 
  

1,451 
  

83% 
  

300 
  

17% 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

4,340 
  

2,988 
  

69% 
  

1,352 
  

31% 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

8,853 
  

5,521 
  

62% 
  

3,332 
  

38% 
  



Stirling 
  

4,189 
  

2,967 
  

71% 
  

1,222 
  

29% 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

2,607 
  

1,628 
  

62% 
  

979 
  

38% 
  



West Lothian 
  

4,584 
  

2,926 
  

64% 
  

1,658 
  

36% 
  



Western Isles 
  

2,014 
  

1,791 
  

89% 
  

223 
  

11% 
  



Scotland Total 
  

196,976 
  

137,635 
  

70% 
  

59,341 
  

30%

Non-Domestic Rates

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any special consideration will be given to licensed premises in respect of qualification for the small business rates relief scheme.

Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive’s consultation paper on rates relief for small businesses proposes an extension to the rural rates relief scheme, to offer 50% mandatory rates relief to qualifying singly owned pubs in designated rural settlements. The proposals for a general rate relief scheme for small businesses do not include any special provisions for licensed premises.

Non-Domestic Rates

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it will use to determine who will benefit from the small business rates relief scheme and what the reasons were for the adoption of these criteria.

Angus MacKay: The Executive has published for consultation a scheme based on rateable values because this is transparent and easy to understand. The rateable value threshold of £10,000 has been an accepted measure of small businesses for some time and is the threshold criterion for the current 2p reduction in poundage. An estimated 70% of businesses occupy properties with a rateable value of £10,000 or less and would therefore benefit from such a scheme.

Planning

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to replace Scottish Office Development Department circular 12/1996, to update the guidance on best practice in the use and content of planning agreements and to provide guidance on the specimen wording of such agreements.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive has no such plans at present. The recommendations of the research report The Use and Effectiveness of Planning Agreements  are still under consideration.

Planning

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to create the new legal mechanism proposed in paragraphs 7.7 and 7.8.3 of The Use and Effectiveness of Planning Agreements by Colin Buchanan & Partners with Dundas & Wilson and Robert Turley Associates and commissioned by its Central Research Unit.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive has no such plans at present. The recommendations of the research report The Use and Effectiveness of Planning Agreements  are still under consideration. The creation of such a mechanism would require primary legislation.

Pre-School Education

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans which would alter the minimum qualifications for teachers in pre-school education and the early years of primary school.

Nicol Stephen: On 1 October we launched a review of entry requirements to teacher training - of all types. I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19480.

Public Transport

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to ensure that young people living in rural areas have access to affordable public transport.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive’s Rural Public Passenger Transport grant provides support for scheduled services, many of which extend access to affordable public transport including to young people.

  In addition, the Rural Community Transport Initiative provides support for local community transport projects across rural Scotland. A number of Community Transport Projects are aimed at meeting the specific needs of young people.

  The Scottish Executive has also recently commissioned a research project titled Young People and Transport that will look at how we can best meet the specific public transport needs of young people in the future.

Renewable Energy

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the percentage of Scotland’s power that can be generated from renewable resources.

Rhona Brankin: Earlier this year, we commissioned an update of an earlier assessment of Scotland’s potential renewable energy resource, which was published in 1993. This work has nearly been completed by the consultants, and I will be announcing its publication shortly, along with a linked report on the Scottish electricity network.

Road Safety

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in improving safety on the A84 and A85 trunk roads.

Sarah Boyack: The following progress has been made in improving safety on the A84 and A85 trunk roads:

  BEAR Scotland Ltd have proposals for improving the A84/A85 junction at Lochearnhead. The construction work is programmed for completion this financial year.

  The designs for village gateways for Lochearnhead have been completed and the signs should be erected by the end of December 2001.

  A contract for improving and upgrading the verge safety fences at various locations on the A84 and A85 has been awarded. These works will start in mid December and be complete by the end of the financial year.

  Minor alterations will be made to road signs and markings at Glen Ogle. The signs should be in place by the end of the year.

  Three improvement schemes at Glenogle are being designed for implementation in the future, subject to competing priorities and available funding.

  White lining and road marking treatments are currently being carried out on these routes.

Roads

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) Argyll and Bute Council and (b) Highland Council spent on roads maintenance in the last financial year (i) in total and (ii) per mile.

Peter Peacock: The provisional outturn figures for 2000-01 for revenue spend on road maintenance by these local authorities are :

  

 

Total 
  

Per kilometre1




Argyll and Bute Council 
  

£5,960,000 
  

£2,581.98 
  



Highland Council 
  

£11,371,000 
  

£1,725.46 
  



  Note:

  1. Road length as supplied by local authorities as at April 2000.

Schools

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the effectiveness of the use of American-style school buses to transport children to school.

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage local authorities to make greater use of American-style buses where such buses are found to have positive safety advantages over other types of school transport.

Sarah Boyack: At present there are no American-style buses in operation in Scotland. However, First Group have invited Scottish local authorities to participate in a pilot to evaluate the success of American-style buses. It is, however, for each authority to decide whether to accept the invitation.

  The Scottish Executive is kept informed about the pilot project, as an observer on the School Travel Advisory Group for England. I will consider the findings of the evaluation and will bring the findings of the evaluation to the attention of Scottish local authorities in due course.

Schools

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review legislation on embarkation and disembarkation of pupils from school transport so that, for example, hazard indicators must be displayed by a bus while pupils are embarking or disembarking and following traffic may not overtake.

Sarah Boyack: Policy and legislation on the lighting of vehicles and on road traffic offences are the responsibility of the UK Parliament.

Schools

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation has been carried out over the proposals to repeal the Schools (Scotland) Code 1956.

Mr Jack McConnell: My department issued a consultation document on 3 April 2000 seeking comments on the review of the code’s provisions. I hope to make an announcement shortly on the future of the code.

Schools

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18284 by Allan Wilson on 15 October 2001, how many communications or reports it has received from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of inspections made by the HSE of state and independent schools regarding adventure activities undertaken during school trips.

Mr Jack McConnell: We have no record of having received any such communications or reports, and there is no requirement for such material to be submitted to the Scottish Executive by the Health and Safety Executive.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its policy on community ownership extends to property owned by Scottish Natural Heritage and, in particular, to the communities on Rum.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive’s proposals, contained in the draft Land Reform Bill which provides for a community right to buy, extend to the whole of rural Scotland, including property owned by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has cost Scottish Natural Heritage to manage Rum in each year since April 1992.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost has been of the survey and research work carried out in relation to Rum by, or on behalf of, Scottish Natural Heritage from April 1992 to date.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16955 by Rhona Brankin on 8 August 2001, how many residential units have been built on the Isle of Rum in each year from 1957 compared with the total annual population of the island in each year from 1957 for which figures are available.

Rhona Brankin: This is a matter for Scottish Natural Heritage. The information requested is not held centrally.

Social Justice

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16773 by Rhona Brankin on 31 July 2001, whether it has made any further progress in promoting social inclusion in rural areas.

Rhona Brankin: The Executive remains committed to promoting social inclusion across Scotland, including in our rural areas. Our understanding of rural social exclusion is being improved as a result of the Rural Poverty and Inclusion Working Group’s report, Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural Scotland,  which was presented to ministers on 30 October. The report makes a number of practical recommendations for measuring the impact of, and tackling, poverty and social exclusion in rural areas. The Executive is already acting on the group’s recommendations by taking forward work to improve data availability and to disaggregate existing data on a rural/urban basis. As far as is currently possible, we will provide an urban/rural breakdown of data in the second Social Justice Annual Report, which will be published shortly.

Sport

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to protect public sports grounds and playing areas from being used for building developments.

Allan Wilson: The Executive seeks to protect and enhance the land and water resources required for the nation’s sport and physical recreation through the planning system. It is part of local authorities’ responsibility to take full account in their preparation of development plans, and development control decisions of the community’s need, for recreational space and sporting facilities. Planning decisions must be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The development plan will therefore form the basis of decisions made by local authorities and Scottish ministers.

  National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 11: Sport, Physical Recreation and Open Space, states that there should be a presumption against redevelopment of playing fields or sports pitches and that planning permission should not be granted for their alternative use, unless it has been established that they will not be required in future by the school or community. For the purposes of NPPG 11 a playing field is defined as land of 0.4 hectares or more for any pitch sports, including any adjacent tennis courts and bowling greens, and athletic tracks.

  Under Article 15 of the General Development Procedure Order, sportscotland must be consulted on proposals for development on land last used as a playing field which has not subsequently been built on and development that is likely to prejudice the use of land as a playing field or lead to the loss of land used as a playing field. If a planning authority is minded to grant a planning permission, and sportscotland has made and maintained an objection to the application, the authority must notify the Scottish ministers who can then decide whether to call in the application for their own determination.

  Robust planning policies are required to safeguard established open spaces, playing fields and access routes where they contribute to local community needs and enjoyment. Local authorities should lead by example and generally resist development of open space and playing fields in their ownership.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any representations from Mallaig Community Council supporting the appointment of a Minister for Tourism.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: Yes.

Warm Deal

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13128 by Jackie Baillie on 12 March 2001, how many households in the private rented sector applied for Warm Deal grants in the 12 months to 30 June 2001, how many such grants were awarded and what percentage of Warm Deal grants awarded during this period this represented.

Jackie Baillie: Eaga manage the Warm Deal for the private sector. They do not record applications by sector. They record the number of grants awarded. From 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001 Eaga received 27,823 Warm Deal grant claims. 941 of these were for tenants in the private rented sector. This represents 3.4% of all grants awarded in that period.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to encourage the development of fridge waste disposal processing plants.

Rhona Brankin: The development of refrigerator disposal capacity in Scotland would complement the Executive’s policies on sustainability and the Executive would therefore welcome any decisions by the waste management industry to set up plant here. The Executive also recognises, however, that this is a commercial decision for individual companies to make in light of their own assessments of the demand for such facilities.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates it has made of the numbers of fridges that will need to be disposed of in Scotland in each of the next five years.

Rhona Brankin: The Executive’s research project The Determination of the Source, Nature, Amount and Disposal Routes of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Arising in Scotland , published earlier this year, and available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 14595) indicated that 224,000 domestic fridges, fridge-freezers and freezers were discarded in 1998-99. The UK Government has estimated a UK total of around 2.5 million. A 9% pro-rata apportionment to Scotland would be 225,000. This is the figure the Executive is using in its policy considerations.

  Annual arisings of 225,000 units equate to about 44 units per 1,000 of population. The Executive is not aware of any factors which will materially change this over the next five years.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will establish baseline figures for biodegradable waste products for each local authority with regard to meeting the EC Landfill Directive target for 2010.

Rhona Brankin: Following a public consultation the Scottish Executive announced, in May 2000, its intention to establish a system of tradable permits in order to meet the requirements in the Landfill Directive for the reduction of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill. The allocation of baseline figures between local authorities, and the level of annual permits, will be established following a further consultation in 2002.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that grants awarded from the Strategic Waste Fund represent best value for money.

Rhona Brankin: It will be for local authorities to ensure that expenditure of grant from the Strategic Waste Fund provides best value for money.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue guidance on best practice in respect of suitability for awards from the Strategic Waste Fund.

Rhona Brankin: Yes. Draft guidance on the Strategic Waste Fund will be issued to local authorities for comment this month.

Water Authorities

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific advice has been issued to North of Scotland Water Authority, East of Scotland Water Authority and West of Scotland Water Authority on how they should deal with pay negotiations in this financial year.

Ross Finnie: Guidance on Public Sector Pay for 2001-02 was issued to the Scottish Water Authorities in May 2001. This is approved annually by Scottish ministers and issued to all public sector organisations. The guidance for 2001-02 is available on the Scottish Executive website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/government/psp2001-01.asp.

Water Authorities

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice or guidance has been provided to North of Scotland Water Authority on how it might utilise any excess surplus funds which it generates.

Ross Finnie: No specific guidance is issued to Scottish water authorities on the use of surplus funds. Such funds are re-invested in the business, typically in support of major capital investment schemes to modernise the infrastructure.